Skip to main content

Is vacation planning stressing you out? You’re not alone

liligo vacation planning stress mini clubvan camper camping
Image used with permission by copyright holder
For being the land of the free, the U.S. doesn’t give many of its workers all that much free time. As one of the nations with the least amount of vacation days (the average American worker gets just 10 days of paid vacation a year), that hardworking mentality we pride ourselves on might, to some extent, be forced upon us. And making things worse is new research from travel comparison tool Liligo, which suggests that one in 11 Americans feels that planning a vacation is actually a more stressful endeavor than planning a wedding.

Yikes.

Recommended Videos

As per the findings of Liligo’s “Travel Search Report,” Americans seem a bit unwilling to ever commit to booking a trip, fearing that once they hit “confirm,” a better deal will appear elsewhere. In fact, this is a sentiment held by one in seven of those surveyed, and one in 12 respondents said that they always find a better deal after they’ve booked their trip. Moreover, Liligo determined, one in seven Americans spend more time researching the best deals for their trip than where to actually go on vacation.

As such, it comes as no surprise that vacation planning sometimes feel like more of a chore than an escape. In fact, study results show that 33 percent of Americans spend more time researching their vacations than deciding on which doctor to visit. Over a third of Americans spend more time figuring out where to take their time off than working out, and over a quarter say they’re more invested in Googling destinations than reading the news. Perhaps most egregious of all, just under 10 percent of Americans claim to spend more time researching travel than spending time with their significant other.

“With work stress on the rise and vacation days on the decline, Americans will go to great lengths to ensure their only days off are completely stress free and ultimately seamless,” said Eric Urbain, general manager for the U.S. at Liligo, “but finding the most convenient and affordable deals out there can be difficult and time consuming.”

But just maybe, tools like Liligo can help alleviate some of that stress, which is practically a vacation in and of itself.

Lulu Chang
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…
Clever new A.I. system promises to train your dog while you’re away from home
finding rover facial recognition app dog face big eyes

One of the few good things about lockdown and working from home has been having more time to spend with pets. But when the world returns to normal, people are going to go back to the office, and in some cases that means leaving dogs at home for a large part of the day, hopefully with someone coming into your house to let them out at the midday point.

What if it was possible for an A.I. device, like a next-generation Amazon Echo, to give your pooch a dog-training class while you were away? That’s the basis for a project carried out by researchers at Colorado State University. Initially spotted by Chris Stokel-Walker, author of YouTubers:How YouTube Shook Up TV and Created a New Generation of Stars, and reported by New Scientist, the work involves a prototype device that’s able to give out canine commands, check to see if they’re being obeyed, and then provide a treat as a reward when they are.

Read more
If you’re after a PS5, you might have a chance to get one from Target tomorrow
Playstation 5 with disk drive

Playstation 5 with disk drive Sony

If you've been wanting a PlayStation 5 but haven't been able to get one this holiday season due to shortages, then good news -- you may have the chance to buy one at Target tomorrow.

Read more
Android 11 is now rolling out to some Samsung Galaxy phones, if you’re lucky
Samsung Galaxy S20 range

Samsung users are set to finally get Android 11. Samsung has finally offered some information about its update rollout -- and as long as you have a recent Galaxy device, you may be able to get it relatively soon.

The first phones to get Android 11, which includes One UI 3.0, will be the Samsung Galaxy S20 series, minus the Galaxy S20 FE. In the U.S., South Korea, and most of Europe, Galaxy S20, S20+, and S20 Ultra users should expect to get the update over the next few weeks, with some users set to get it right away. According to reports, however, it seems as though some UK Note 20 users have already gotten the update.

Read more